MONTPELLIER, France -- Top-seeded Richard Gasquet of France was hardly troubled by countryman Albano Olivetti as he won 6-4, 6-2 on Friday to reach the Open Sud de France semifinals and stay on course to defend his title. Although Olivetti, a qualifier, had 13 aces, he failed to force a single break-point chance on Gasquets serve and lost his own three times. Gasquet next plays third-seeded Jerzy Janowicz of Poland, who won had 18 aces in a 6-2, 6-4 win against seventh-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France. "It was a tough match. I know Edouard very well from the Tour and I knew that I had to be very good on my serve and aggressive on my returns to have a chance," said Janowicz, who is 1-1 against Gasquet in their head-to-heads. "Gasquet will be a very difficult opponent. I know he is playing very, very well." No. 5 Gael Monfils of France advanced after beating Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4, 6-4 and next plays No. 6 Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, who won 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) win against Marc Gicquel of France. "I felt very good on the court today," said Monfils, who won the tournament four years ago and holds a 3-0 record against Nieminen. "I felt the ball really well and had a lot of fun today. As each day goes by, I am feeling better and better and raising my game." The 36-year-old Gicquel missed five break-point chances in the deciding set. Nolan Ryan Mets Jersey . The 23-year-old Poland international is back as first choice at Arsenal after losing his regular spot in the team on occasions over the last three seasons. Michael Conforto Mets Jersey . Masahiro Tanaka has touched down in the United States and the courting of the Rakuten Golden Eagles stud pitcher has begun in earnest by a bevy of MLB teams interested in the Japanese ace. http://www.metssale.com/mets-steven-matz-jersey/ . Now he can be had by any team willing to pay his salary. According to a report from ESPN, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are shopping the veteran CB and plan on releasing him Wednesday if they cant find a trade partner. Gregor Blanco Jersey . The Oilers jumped into the free agent market early by signing defencemen Keith Aulie (six-foot-six, 228 pounds) and Mark Fayne (6-3, 210 pounds) and left-winger Benoit Pouliot (6-3, 197-pounds). Two days earlier MacTavish traded lightweight forward Sam Gagner to Tampa Bay for 6-3, 203-pound right winger Ted Purcell. Jed Lowrie Jersey . -- Floridas smothering defence returned to form just in time for the third-ranked Gators to keep their winning streak going.STANFORD, Calif. - Serena Williams roared back after falling behind in the third set to beat Ana Ivanovic 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 on Friday night to reach the semifinals of the Bank of the West Classic. The top-seeded and top-ranked Williams dropped three consecutive games to fall behind 4-3 and then ripped seven straight points to right the ship in front of a sellout crowd at Stanford. "It wasnt very easy," Williams said. "I tried to do the things I worked on. Im feeling really good. Im not out of breath, so yeah." Williams assured herself of a 200th non-consecutive week at the top of the ladder while Ivanovic will return to the top 10 for first time in over five years. Andrea Petkovic ended Venus Williams run in the tournament, beating the former top-ranked player 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in the quarterfinals. She gets a shot at Serena Williams on Saturday afternoon. "You dont ever have the feeling you have something under control when you play either of them," Petkovic said. "They can hit so hard, and play consistently well. You always have to be on your toes." Following a shaky start, the 25th-ranked Venus Williams picked up her game in the second set and appeared poised to take over the match. The 18th-ranked Petkovic rallied in the third set, taking leads of 3-1 and 5-3, to beat Williams in their first meeting since Luxembourg in 2012. "I was not as on as I was on previous days," Williams said. "I had to fight through that and I think I almost did that. But she played the last two points better." Pettkovic, making her debut in the tournament, is looking for her third title of the season.dddddddddddd. She also reached the semifinal at the French Open. "I played one of my best games in the third set at 5-5," Petkovic said. "Before that it was a weird match. There were so many momentum changes and so many ups and downs, I felt like I played four different matches in one." The Serena-Ana match was similar as Ivanovic dominated the first set before Williams turned it around in the second set. The third set took on a life of its own. Both players simply refused to go away and battled through long rallies and silly errors. Serena served for the match at 5-4 but Ivanovic denied her. Serena broke back and used a pair of aces to take a 40-0 lead before ending it when Ivanovics return went just wide. Varvara Lepchenko took care of qualifier Sachia Vickery, 6-1, 6-0, to earn her 400th career win, which includes all levels. "It was hard to play someone from the United States who I know very well," Lepchenko said. "Ive practiced with her often before. I knew this match would be mentally tough but was just trying to play the best tennis I could." She will meet third-seeded Angelique Kerber in Saturday nights semifinal. Kerber topped Garbine Muguruza, 6-2, 6-1. "She is definitely one of the tougher lefty opponents out there, so I will have to play and fight for every single point," Lepchenko said. "Im going to stay focused on my game and hopefully things will work out well for me." ' ' '